1 NORTHERN GREECE: Philippi, Kavala, Thessaloniki
It had me at the river.
A smoothly cascading river, rippling through rocks and ferns in a clearing near a woodland, hypnotized me. Its tune was lilting, and I completely relaxed. The soul wholeness this site brought me made the whole trip worthwhile. It was our first stop after viewing miles and miles of northern Greece’s stunning tile-roofed coastal villas with royal blue Aegean Sea views. Expansive rolling green hills spilled without abandon down to water’s edge.
The town was Philippi, north of the second largest city in Greece Thessaloniki, and an uncomfortably close distance from the Black Sea occupied by Russian warships. Our small group was dubbed “The Remnant,” “remnant” defined as “remaining trace.” We’d planned to go with 42 and ended up at 23 plus our leader. Following in the “footsteps of Paul,” who arrived at Philippi in the winter of 49-50 AD during his first trip to Greece, we assembled at the Zigaktis River where Scripture says a prominent businesswoman named Lydia was the first Greek and European to accept Christ. Lydia and her entire family were baptized; she opened her home to Paul and Silas. Paul helped this God-fearing woman, and she helped others. (Acts 16:14-40.) Annually on May 20, in memory of Lydia, adult baptisms are performed at the site.
Dedicated to Paul, a nearby micro-mini-Sistine-chapel-like edifice with a domed ceiling is full of vibrant art, icons, stained glass, and floor mosaics depicting sequences of his life and ministry– including Paul and Silas’s trial and imprisonment in Philippi, when they sang praises and the Lord caused an earthquake to make a way of escape.
Kavala was a lovely seaport, shaped much like a sleepy Dana Point of old. The apostle Paul sailed into this glistening port on a missionary journey which changed the world. At a seafood restaurant on the water, it was stunning to imagine Paul and his friends entering this port in the unexplored north, in a land referred to as “the ends of the earth.” Historically, Greece and Asia minor were known as “the ends of the earth” to the Jews. At the Great Commission, Jesus said to the disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. . .” (Matthew 28:16-20.)
In Thessaloniki was the Christian community to whom Paul wrote Thessalonians. Today, it sports the waterfront harbor landmark White Tower, where the city once held its war prisoners. Here the curiously antiquated and ornamented church of St. Demetrius is dedicated to the Roman military Christian martyr. Ornate Greek orthodox icons, tapestries, stations, and paintings filled the historic church. Fine art had often been gifted to the church by private owners to share enjoyment of the acquisitions with the villagers of the surrounding area.
2 METEORA MONASTERIES
“Meteora” means “hanged from nowhere.” It’s also defined as “lofty,” “elevated,” and is related to “meteor.” This is a spectacular stone forest crowned with monasteries. Photos of these elaborate monasteries perched on rock pinnacles in Kalambaka can only somewhat convey the breathtaking experience of viewing these towering edifices firsthand. Built on majestic natural pillars and hill-like rounded boulders, only 6 of the original 24 monasteries opened in the 13th and 14th centuries remain in operation. In the 14th century, St. Athanasios founded the largest of Eastern Orthodox monasteries, where monks used scaffolds for climbing rocks and getting supplies. Nets were also used with hooks and ladders. Often people and supplies stood in a cage or basket, then a pulley system was engaged for monks to hoist them up. These monasteries (UNESCO World Heritage sites) were filled with fine art and spiritual icons assembled at ground level over many years, then finally pulled up and curated inside the amazing mountaintop and cliffside monasteries. Our groups visited one hilltop monastery and one nunnery. Strolling through the gardens and looking over the side of the cliffs was quite an unnerving feeling, especially thinking of how scores of 17th century Greek villagers scrambled to hide on the top of the rocks when invading countries threatened. Some monks, including Nikolaos the Young of the Holy Monastery of Varlaam, were martyred in 1617 when Turkish fighters took the mount by force.
Composed of a mixture of sandstone and conglomerate—not volcanic hard igneous rock– these mounts rise vertically from the ground. About 60 million years ago during the Paleogene period a series of earth movements pushed the seabed upward, creating high, vertical fault lines; the rock pillars were formed by water, wind, and extremes of temperature. Radiocarbon dating evidences human presence back 50,000 years.
The James Bond movie “Never Say Die” was filmed from the crags of these peaks. This stop was my husband’s most memorable of many storied destinations for its natural and manmade beauty. When the fog and mist swirls in, only the formation’s base and the tip is visible, causing one to think the elevated monasteries surely are hanging from nowhere!
3 ATHENS, ACROPOLIS TO AEROPAGUS
It’s a long climb up to the Parthenon, an epic monument to man’s achievement. During the pandemic Athenians built a glass enclosed elevator which inches up the side of the hill for those with walking considerations. A spectacular scenic ride up and down includes views of all Athens. Atop the classical Greek temple mount, four lovely carvings of women adorn the Temple of Aphrodite, goddess of love. A real treasure. It’s hard to believe one is viewing the actual statues from ancient Greek mythology! Close up, one sees each carving is of a different woman or goddess, although they look one and the same when viewed from afar, a purposeful visual trick. Parthenon sculptures can be better appreciated in the Acropolis Museum—one of my favorite museums in the world for its modern innovations. It features a wall replicating Parthenon upper wall carvings in detail. Old world meets new. This upper Parthenon beam boasting figures in battle, horses, gods, etc. is not to be missed in one’s lifetime. I was unprepared, though, for how familiar it felt to be among the ancient ruins and artifacts, as if they already existed in my knowledge bank and to find them now simply completed a loop hard-wired into me. . . possibly from instructing World Lit. Lit up at night, the soaring Parthenon shows how hard Greeks were striving for perfection and accomplishment in their culture—a culture in need of grace. In 51 AD the apostle Paul came by boat to bring them the Gospel, good news.
In Paul’s visit to Athens, he humbly stood below the elegant, regal Acropolis in the lower ground of the Areopagus (Mars Hill,) and spoke to the city’s intellectuals and debaters. He must have felt dwarfed by the Parthenon’s magnificence of the tribute to man’s supremacy, but he spoke out in faith anyway. The slippery white rock surface he stood upon is an A site, one proven definitely to be the one mentioned in Bible. Previously, Paul had walked through Athens, and had seen an altar to “To An Unknown God.” Athenians were afraid of forgetting or offending a god, so they created a multi-purpose one. Connecting to Athenians on their level, Paul gave a talk revealing the Jesus as God. Thus, Paul’s well- known “Sermon on the unknown God” appears in the evangelist Luke’s book of Acts (Acts 17:17-34.) Some listeners believed and went with Paul. Others argued against the resurrection of the dead. But the seed had been planted. Years later, many believers resided in and near Athens.
4 CORINTH
Letters to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul’s great opus, was directed to the early Christian church here. My heart beat a little faster crossing over the Isthmus canal separating the mainland from the Peloponnese peninsula. Would I learn something more about the people for whom Paul wrote in I Corinthians, “Love is patient, love is kind. . .”? At that time, polytheistic Greeks were constantly appeasing their gods with sacrifices and works. Even in the Christian church, the rich went first to the Lord’s table, and sexual immorality was practiced before and after church. Paul taught them a new way to live lovingly by faith in Christian community.
Controlling the ancient supply chain at two major ports, Corinth was the top Greek commercial city. Ancient Corinth has been compared to Newport Beach or Malibu, not for its commerce, but for its excesses and opulent coastal lifestyle. Topography includes sandy beaches and azure waters as other regions of the peninsula ascend to lofty peaks and descend to deep gorges.
An advantage of traveling in March was the low number of visitors. We saw most sites and took outdoor pictures without disturbance, although finding it perplexing to be abroad in a pandemic opening. I didn’t hear many appreciative “oohs” from onlookers outside of our group, as if a collective cabin fever over the past couple of years had now driven tourists to drink with entitlement from the well of history. I had to remind myself what a privilege travel was and is. Our group was one of the only ones viewing the museum of ancient artifacts in the Ancient Corinth Archeological Museum where stand life-size figures of two perfect-looking young men who perished and were buried in Corinth. Actual ancient burial statues appear in the Athens Acropolis Museum. Objects from the Geometric, Archaic, and Classical periods coexist with house statues of Roman rulers, floor mosaics, wall-paintings, Roman and Byzantine pottery.
The outdoors site is dominated by the archaic Temple of Apollo along with seven Doric columns, the Fountain of Glauke (sanctuary) and Theater. Adjoining are ruins of the “Agora”marketplace, the bema or rostrum of Gallio for trying judicial cases, and the temples to gods. The apostle Paul was tried for sharing Jesus before a judge at the bema here and other sites. His love for believers and non-believers earned him whips, prison, hunger, cold, and shipwreck. (Acts 17:1-9.) Our group celebrated a meaningful Communion outdoors in a secluded tree-lined area, in remembrance of Christ. When our Pastor looked up from Communion prayer, an Aslan-sized dog was at his side! It surprised us all and echoed the Narnian quote: “We will take the adventure Aslan gives us.” Later, inspired by Paul’s writings and grateful to God, like Paul we wrote epistles to our loved ones.
5 SANTORINI ISLAND
Influenced by the work of author and classics scholar C. S. Lewis, I knew encountering Greece with its heroes, legends, and influences would be as startling (and romantic) for me as it was for Lewis and his wife Joy on their trip around the islands. Lewisian colleagues Tolkien, Barfield, and Coghill were also enamored with Grecian tales. When the mythic warrior Odysseus journeyed back home to Ithaca, Greece, from the battle of Troy (in modern Turkey,) he encountered supernatural creatures on the Greek islands. So, when our tour group turned north to Rome, after the island cruise ship was covid-cancelled, my husband and I flew over the islands and landed on magnificent Santorini, in the Cyclades group, which suffered a volcanic eruption in about 1500 BC and sits atop the remains of an ancient Minoan civilization beneath the volcanic debris.
Ferries take several hours to reach some popular Greek islands, but comfortable Aegean Air flights are only a half-hour long. Flying onto the cliff top of the immense crater of a drowned volcano and looking down on a shimmering sea, it’s hard not to be awed by the island croissant-shaped by a cataclysmic event. We took advice to stay in Oia, the northern end of Santorini with a caldera sea view, and were not disappointed. From the outdoor plunge pool in our white Cycladic island house spilling down the terraced rock, we could view the Akrotiri Lighthouse as well as islands Thirasia, Nea Kament, and Palia Kament. Neighboring dwellings ensconced in snow-colored niches hewn on volcanic minerals are near to the Karpathian Sea and Sea of Crete.
Notable for tangerine and turquoise sunsets, Santorini offers cuisine as delectable as any in all the EU. Petra Restaurant in Oia’s Canaves Suites is our favorite for the varied Mediter-
ranean breakfast menu with crater blue sea views. Ammoudi Fish Tavern seafood is highly recommended. A dusk trip by car or foot trip to Ammoudi Beach provides as good a view of sunset colors as any of the expensive trimaran BBQ dinner cruises. Splendors of the red, white and black beaches await in a day trip to the island’s south end–Creation’s natural beauty.
References: Ancient Corinth by Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth, 2013. Lewis. C. S. The Last Battle. Chronicles of Narnia, 1952. Lonely Planet’s Best of Greece & the Greek Islands, 2022. Mariners Church Athens/Rome Footsteps of Paul Study Guide, March 2022.
Meteora-The Holy Monasteries as a Place of Pilgrimage, 2013
